Philly Fed Chief Plosser to Retire in March 2015

FBN’s Peter Barnes talks to Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser about the U.S. economy.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said Monday he will retire from his post on March 1, 2015.

Continue Reading Below

Plosser, a voting member of the Fed’s policy setting Federal Open Markets Committee and an outspoken inflation hawk, has served as president of the Philadelphia Fed since 2006, the 10th person to fill this role.

Plosser and a handful of other FOMC hawks have repeatedly expressed concerns that the Fed’s accommodative monetary policies – near-zero interest rates and asset purchasing programs – will lead to financial bubbles and eventually runaway inflation.

As the Fed now debates the timing and trajectory of interest rate hikes, Plosser has called for raising rates sooner rather than later.

In addition, Plosser has called for the Fed to remove language from its monthly statement in which the central bank says interest rates will remain low “for a considerable time” after the Fed ends its asset purchasing program next month.

More On This...

Plosser wants the phrase removed so that markets can start preparing for high rates, which will increase the cost of borrowing and make it more expensive to get a car loan or a mortgage, or for a small business to borrow money for expansion.

Fellow hawk Richard Fisher of the Dallas Fed, who is 65, will also retire next year, leaving two openings on the Fed's policymaking panel as Fed Chair Janet Yellen navigates the central bank's eventual exit from super-easy monetary policy.

Regional Fed presidents usually face a mandatory retirement age of 65. Plosser, who turned 66 last week, could have stayed on until Aug. 1, 2016.

Plosser expressed his esteem for his fellow Federal Reserve colleagues in a statement, calling the experience a "unique opportunity and privilege to serve the nation."